Summer beckons with boundless adventures and the chance to bask in the warm sun. Though it also means special maintenance tasks need to be minded to keep small issues from turning into big problems. For a lot of homeowners, this includes summer lawn care and routine maintenance.
A lot of homeowners view lawn care is a point of pride that shows pride of ownership. Yet maintaining a lush lawn isn’t always easy in the blistering heat of summer. So we decided to take a closer look at some lawn care tips to help ease the chore of summer yard work, while still making sure that your lawn looks a perfect shade of verdant green.
OVERSEEDING YOUR LAWN
Start the year right by overseeding your lawn to take care of dead or thinning spots that have occured from winter or other issues that may have arisen from the year prior. Overseeding will ensure that by summertime the entire area will be a lush green paradise for you to enjoy.
Fertilize In Late Spring Or Early Summer
Strong healthy grass that grows vigorously helps choke out weeds while making it harder for a lot of common lawn diseases and yard pests to establish a foothold. Fertilizing your lawn stands as one of the best ways to give your grass a leg up on a whole host of potential problems that could try to come calling later on in the summer. Ultimately, a few hours and dollars spent fertilizing in late spring or early summer will save you tons of time and headaches in the sweltering days of midsummer.
The best time to fertilize your lawn tends to be in late spring or early summer. This is typically mid-May through late June. The goal is to provide your grass and the turf that supports it with the nutrients it needs right before the peak growing season. This is especially important if you live in areas that experience drought. No matter what region you live in be sure to fertilize for a lush, thick lawn.
Choosing The Best Type Of Fertilizer For Your Summer Lawn
When fertilizing in late spring or early summer it helps to choose a fertilizer that includes some type of insect control mixed in the blend. This helps do things like eliminating grubs, fleas, and other unwanted pests before they have a chance to populate the subsoil or turf, while still feeding your lawn the key nutrients like nitrogen that it needs to grow vigorously.
If you live in a dry area that is known for being prone to drought, look for best lawn fertilizer spreaders to evenly put down the right amount of fertilizer that encourage water penetration and strong root systems. When in doubt, a trip to your local home and garden store is always helpful. You’ll have a chance to talk with experts who know what’s best for your type of lawn seed and region.
Once you are done applying fertilizer per the manufacturer’s instructions, you should lightly water your lawn to let the fertilizer sink in. Watering for 10 to 15 minutes usually does the trick. Just make sure you don’t apply fertilizer right before a downpour. This may cause the fertilizer to run off instead of sinking into the soil.
Dial In Your Lawn Irrigation System
Underwatering can cause the grass to struggle, which allows weeds, and pests to get an easier foothold. On the other end of the spectrum, overwatering makes it easy for fungi, moss lawn diseases, and even mushrooms to infest your lawn.
Dialing in your lawn irrigation system to ensure that your lawn only gets 1 to at most 1.5 inches of water in a given week will go a long way toward preventing these problems. While you can’t control the rain, adding a rain sensor to your lawn irrigation system is an easy, inexpensive way to make sure that you don’t accidentally add to inundation after heavy rainfall.
Use A Mulching Or Bagging Mower To Prevent Thatch Buildup
Thatch is created when harvested grass clippings are deposited on the lawn and allowed to dry out. It is more likely to be a problem when the grass clippings are long. This can start to choke out your grass, while also making it hard for water to saturate down into the turf where it needs to feed the roots to promote vigorous growth.
A mulching mower essentially minces grass clippings into tiny pieces that decompose back into the upper layers of the turf. This gives your lawn a little boost of nitrogen to promote good growth.
A bagging mower collects the harvested grass clippings in a large collection bin. You can then add them to your compost pile or side-dress your garden plants.
Even if you don’t have a bagging or mulching mower, you should still take an extra few minutes to a powerful leaf blower to try to clear as many of the grass clippings left behind by a side discharge mower.
Be Vigilant With Killing Weeds
Even the most diligent lawn care routine is still not going to be enough to prevent a stray weed or three from finding a home on your lawn. The best ways to kill weeds are to dig them out at the root or spot and treat them with a weed killer. The longer you procrastinate a weed problem, the more likely the weeds are to spread, and the harder they will be to remove.
It’s best to avoid a fertilizer blended with a weed killer if you have shrubs, trees, or flowers near your grass. The weed-killing chemical in many such fertilizers targets broadleaf plants. A lot of non-grass landscaping plants can also be affected by these weed killers, which could end up causing more harm than good if you kill some weeds, but also kill a prized landscaping tree in the process.
Be Proactive About Pests
Chances are good that you will have ants, moles, voles, fleas or gophers visit your lawn at some point in the season. Some might just pass through looking for a better home, while some might take up full-time residence. If you notice signs of common lawn pests, like dead spots in the turf, mounds, or surface tunnels, you need to spring into action. The longer you wait to deal with these pests, the more likely they are to reproduce and become harder to eliminate.
